Experiences of Pethidine

[Sam29]

Hi, am due in 3 and a half weeks and have my fingers crossed for a water birth using gas and air to see me through.
However, need to have a Plan B just in case something hiccups and I can't have a water birth. Do not want to be bed bound so epidural not an option so am thinking of pethidine if I end up having to be on dry land! I know it can make the baby sleepy which concerns me as I want to get baby to breast asap but has anyone had any good / bad experiences of pethidine or tips on having it and having a relatively awake baby!

hello bells

i have been wondering what to make of your message all day. i think you are annoyed or upset by my comments yesterday, and i'm at a bit of a loss to understand why.

i'm unhappy with a couple of posters on this thread who have described themselves as "smug" for not having epi's or c-sections. i find this choice of words provocative for the reasons i have described below and which i do not propose to repeat. i would have thought this was clear from my previous posts and as such i am surprised that you think my comments were in any way directed at you.

i'm not surprised you are unhappy with being labelled as "smug" or "superior" - you did not, unlike others, claim this description for yourself. wonderful that you are absolutely delighted with how things went for you - good for you!

however, i was not the one who made the comments you (understandably) object to, so again i am wondering why your post of 7.25am this morning is directed at me?

ime, we usually agree about things, and actually, i don't think this is an exception, so would be very unhappy to think you have been upset by comments of mine which were in no way aimed at you.

ks, it was the lark, and I think Dives and Lazarus and Symphony No. 3 (I had a LONG labour!!)

Oh BK, I didn't mean to suggest I was upset with you!. Phrased it badly but I was just pointing out that I was one who had only talked positively about my own experience and was still labelled "smug" and "superior". I am always being told I am mad to have given birth without pain relief and actually, an continuously told by two people I know I am mad not to have C-sections (which I find utterly baffling given my extreme good luck in having simple, straightforward deliveries) so I guess it is something I feel sensitive about.

Well I wouldn't blame you for being annoyed. All this fuss because one person referred to themselves as smug (which given their medical history to me is entirely justified) and yet you got called smug by someone else for just referring to your positive experience and that seems to be perfectly ok!!.

My NCT counsellor was very negative about pethidine - so much so that I thought it certainly wasn't an option, and was really surprised to see all the posts below from people who had it.

She was relatively neutral about epidurals. I ended up having one, and it was a nightmare to get in in between contractions - took an hour and my dp got so furious he had to leave the room to avoid shouting at the anaesthetist. She was young and inexperienced, and god knows how much longer she would have taken if a more experienced one hadn't happened to stick her head round the door and offered to help.

NQ - I really am a pethidine fan, I had it twice and it was great. I just cannot see what the fuss is about. Why are so many against it??? so the baby is a bit sleepy, but really that is not a big deal, and pethedine has no side effects for the mum (except sometimes it isn't strong enough). No aneathetists, no back ache, no stitches and no feeling sick. great!

Lil, according to some of the references to research studies, on
this website ( Association of Radical Midwives!) pethidine caused nausea more than the newer drug meptid.

I'm SO sorry I used the word smug! I don't think I meant it that way - I was pleased my births went the way they did as I felt that the way it all happened could have been a lot worse. I was advised to avoid an epidural if at all possible (due to back problems including the side effects of a previous lumbar puncture) and managed to do so - so I am pleased that this is how it happened. I suppose I said I was smug as this is the word a midwife used for me - I had delivered a 9lb12oz OP baby with syntocin with no epidural and she said 'you must feel very smug' - and I did - I had done it my way even though the odds were against me.
Bad choice of word perhaps. Whe I think about it I am so happy that I managed her birth that way as it is what I had always hoped for. I feel more of a sense of acheivment having delivered her with no epidural than I did about ds who was a totally 'textbook' delivery - because I felt I had ahceived something which was important to me.
I am really sorry if I upset anyone by my choice of words.

susanmt, what a generous message. i did get upset by your choice of words. thanks for your apology. i'm glad things went the way you wanted given your medical history, and it is a big achievement to give birth to a large OP baby with syntocin and no epi. i know because i had a 9lb7oz OP baby, had the epi after 27hrs and only 4cm dilated, it didn't work, so they kept upping the syntocin, which made it more painful, and the second epi didn't work either! don't know what they gave me in the end (elephant tranx?) but ds finally arrived with the aid of a ventouse after a total of 43hrs. anyway, enough of that. i think you should feel proud of yourself.

it's difficult to get the tone quite right here sometimes isn't it?

thanks again for your apology